In post-#MeToo Hollywood, the industry has had to reckon with the many talented actresses who were blacklisted by powerful men for being “difficult.” That includes Sean Young, the intelligent, forthright beauty known for her roles in ’80s and ’90s films “Blade Runner,” “Stripes,” “No Way Out” and “Ace Ventura: Pet Detective.”
In a new interview about “surviving Hollywood’s toxic men,” Young explains how she knows she always made “men nervous.” The 61-year-old also believes that her career was sabotaged by a handful of “powerful, terribly vindictive men.” The names she mentions to the Daily Beast include: Ridley Scott, Warren Beatty, Steven Spielberg and Oliver Stone.
But Young saves most of her ire for James Woods, the once highly regarded Academy Award-nominated actor who has more recently become infamous for being a pro-Donald Trump political troll on Twitter.
“He actually was successful in destroying my studio career,” Young told the Daily Beast.
Young and Woods, 73, co-starred in the mostly forgotten 1988 movie “The Boost,” in which they played a cocaine-addicted couple. It’s disputed whether they had an onset affair, but they most definitely became embroiled in a nasty public court fight. Woods sued Young for $2 million, accusing her of being a scorned “Fatal Attraction”-type ex-lover. He alleged Young harassed him, sent hate mail and notoriously left a disfigured doll on his doorstep.
Just revisiting THE BOOST after so many years.
James Woods and Sean Young so iconic.
A great little film. pic.twitter.com/K0DNAIXDG7
— JohnnyTheBoy (@ArsGratiaArtis1) December 4, 2020
The case was settled out of court, but Young points out to the Daily Beast that she won the case, with Woods forced to pay her $227,000 to cover her legal costs.
Nonetheless, Young said, the damage was done to her career. While Woods continued to work in major studio films, starring in Martin Scorsese’s “Casino” and earning a second Oscar nomination for “The Ghosts of Mississippi,” Young lost out on roles in Tim Burton’s “Batman” and “Batman Returns” and in Warren Beatty’s “Dick Tracy.” (Young has said Beatty axed her for his female lead in “Dick Tracy” after she rebuffed his advances, a claim Beatty denies.)
Young agreed with Daily Beast writer Marlow Stern that Woods’ claims about the disfigured doll were ridiculous. But nonetheless, she said, the allegations of out-of-control behavior formed the public’s image of her.
“It’s so stupid,” Young said. “In my view, I was like, ‘No one is gonna believe this.'”
But people did. While Young acknowledged she was given a few more chances, she said she “got fed up” with having to continue to answer for Woods’ claims.
“I remember, I got hired by an agent and he grilled me for an hour about James Woods, and I was like, ‘Oh, (expletive).’ So I have to walk in every time now and explain why I’m not crazy? I don’t see this guy having to explain anything, so what the (expletive) is your problem?”
Young said it was hard for her to fathom why Woods was so “vindictive.”
“Well, I think his girlfriend had a lot to do with it,” Young said. She was referring to Woods’ girlfriend at the time, Sarah Owen. The “brooding” actor and Owen had a tumultuous relationship and four-month marriage that included Owen once accusing him of holding her at gunpoint, as People reported in 1989.
“She was no prize,” Young continued. “I think she got really jealous. … Who knows? The lesson I learned from that is, as a rational person, I will never understand an irrational, crazy person. Because you can’t. It’s irrational so it makes no sense.”
After getting a break from Jim Carrey to play a supporting role in his 1994 hit “Ace Ventura: Pet Detective,” Young’s Hollywood career cooled and she moved to Sedona, Arizona. However, she continued to work in smaller, independent films. She explained to the Daily Beast that her experience with toxic men, overcoming lesser controversies and her efforts to overcome an alcohol addiction gave her a new perspective on life, her movie career and being an artist.
“I lost some enthusiasm, which I gained back in a different venue — smaller independent pictures,” Young said. “After I overcame my ego being bruised, because I did want to keep being a significant actress — and that eventually just died — I thought, well, it doesn’t really matter that I get to do great movies or lesser movies, what matters is that the audience will be able to see me all the way through.”
“People will be watching ‘Blade Runner’ forever, and then they’ll ask themselves, ‘Who’s that actress?” Young told the Daily Beast. “Oh, what else did she do?’ and they’ll be able to find stuff I’ve done in my 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, and 60s — and maybe even my 70s. You never know.”
Like Young, Woods has many proud moments in movies and TV to look back on. It also appears that he, too, is in a reflective mood in the twilight of his career. He also is showing a desire to be seen as less acrimonious.
Since Trump lost the election, Woods has dialed things back on Twitter and mostly stopped venting right-wing anger and conspiracy theories to his 2.4 million followers. Earlier this month, the actor briefly stepped back into political commentary by denouncing censorship and the “cancellation” of cartoon characters like Pepe Le Pew. But Uproxx reported that Woods quickly deleted the tweet after being roasted on social media.
https://twitter.com/KT_So_It_Goes/status/1369679250178138115
Otherwise, Woods has devoted much of his Twitter posts since November to discussing his favorite writers and to paying tribute to his former co-stars and other celebrity friends, including Michael J. Fox, William Hurt, Morgan Freeman, James Garner, John Travolta, Denzel Washington, Gene Hackman, Robert Downey Jr. and his “golf buddy” Clint Eastwood.
Most surprisingly, Woods even had something nice to say about Young, the woman whose career he once tried to “destroy.” In December, he responded to a fan’s since-deleted tweet about “The Boost,” which apparently praised Young’s performance and mentioned the film’s screenwriter.
“Sean was brilliant for sure,” Woods acknowledged.
Sean was brilliant for sure. I saw Ben Stein the other day. The Boost was based on his book, Ludes. I had heard that in real life the fellow my character was based on recovered and became a substance abuse counselor, and her character relapsed and was killed during a drug deal. https://t.co/SKeGaEWbKL
— James Woods (@RealJamesWoods) December 15, 2020
